In the Matter of the Petition by ) October 20, 1999 ) WILLIE McNEAL III ) 4219 West Arch Street ) ) at ) ) Tampa, FL 33607-4128 ) P.S. Docket No. DCA 99-380 APPEARANCE FOR PETITIONER: Willie McNeal, III 4219 West Arch Street Tampa, FL 33607-4128 APPEARANCE FOR RESPONDENT: Rosalyn G. Warner Labor Relations Specialist United States Postal Service 2203 N. Lois Avenue, Suite 1042 Tampa, FL 33607-7142
DECISION ON MOTION TO DISMISS
Petitioner, Willie McNeal, III, filed this Petition after receiving a Notice of Involuntary Administrative Salary Offsets, dated August 5, 1999. This Notice stated the Postal Service’s intention to withhold $467.12 from Petitioner’s salary to recover for a shortage in his account, discovered by an audit on September 25, 1997.
Respondent, the United States Postal Service, filed a Motion to Dismiss, arguing that Petitioner appealed this same alleged debt through the grievance/arbitration procedure, and that an arbitrator held a hearing and issued a decision denying the grievance. Attached to the motion is a copy of the arbitrator's decision.
By Order dated September 21, 1999, Petitioner was given until October 8, 1999 to reply to the motion. Our records show that this Order was received by Petitioner on September 24, 1999, but no reply has been received.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Petitioner is a window clerk in Tampa, Florida. On September 25, 1997, Petitioner's account was audited and found to be short by $467.12. A Letter of Demand was issued to him on September 26, 1997.
2. Petitioner's union filed a grievance on his behalf under the provisions of the labor/management agreement. A hearing was held before an arbitrator, Glenda August, on June 22, 1999. On June 30, 1999, the arbitrator issued her written decision denying the grievance.
3. On August 5, 1999, the Notice of Involuntary Administrative Salary Offsets was issued to Petitioner.
DECISION
Section 462.34 of the Postal Service Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) limits access of bargaining unit employees to the Postal Service’s Debt Collection Act procedures as follows:
"If an arbitrator opens a hearing on the merits of a
grievance concerning any letter of demand, the
statutory offset procedures in 452.3 do not apply
thereafter, unless the arbitrator makes a ruling of
nonarbitrability (see 462.22d) or the Postal
Service and the union negotiate a partial
settlement of the grievance."
The procedures in section 452.3, referenced above, are those that provide an employee an opportunity for a hearing under the Debt Collection Act before the Postal Service collects an alleged debt by involuntary salary offset. The purpose of these provisions of the ELM is to give employees a choice of initially contesting an alleged debt through either the grievance procedures, or the Debt Collection Act hearing procedures. What the section quoted above means is that, if the arbitration proceeds to a hearing and decision, an employee cannot have a second hearing under the Debt Collection Act. The August 5, 1999 Notice of Involuntary Administrative Salary Offsets, which advised Petitioner of his right to file a Petition for a Debt Collection Act hearing, was issued to him in error. That error, however, does not create a right to a Debt Collection Act hearing that does not exist under the ELM.
Respondent's Motion to dismiss is granted and this case is dismissed. Respondent may collect $467.12 from Petitioner's salary.
Bruce R. Houston Chief Administrative Law Judge